Events scheduled for today could be labeled as being held "once in a blue moon" because tonight's moon is the second full moon in the month of July. Though it's called a blue moon, the moon is not blue, and its really not all that rare. Though the term blue moon used to refer to the third full moon when there were four full moons in a season (usually, there are only three), it has more recently been defined as a second full moon in a calendar month....Continue Reading »

DECATUR -- Decatur's Veterans Park will be ablaze with activity from 7 a.m. until midnight at the 62nd Annual Decatur Barbecue on Aug. 1. Many exciting activities are planned for this year's event, including a fireworks display sponsored by the city of Decatur. The Barbecue is sponsored by the Decatur Chamber of Commerce, which, with the help of many talented Decatur area residents, has put on the event for more than six decades. The one-day event begins at 7 a.m. with the 2K, 5K and 10K runs at Edmiston Park.Continue Reading »

Sports

GRAVETTE -- The Gravette Lions football team will hold an intersquad scrimmage from 9 to 11 a.m. on Gravette Day, Saturday, Aug. 8. The scrimmage will be held at the high school practice field, and Coach Bill Harrelson says it will be the team's first day in full pads. The Lions begin full practices Monday, Aug. 3. "We're really excited about the new season," Harrelson said.Continue Reading »

Community

GENTRY -- Kids were laughing, playing, catching fish and catching critters in the creek at the Second Annual Kids in the Woods Nature Camp held July 20 and 21 at the Flint Creek Nature Area south of Gentry. The event was sponsored by Arvest Bank, Walmart and 2 Saun Farms, and hosted by the Gentry Chamber of Commerce, the city of Gentry, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Arkansas Forestry Commission ... On each of the two days, the children were divided into two groups. One group went fishing in the pond which was recently restocked with catfish by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, while the other group went to the creek and participated in bug kickin', an exercise in which the kids catch creek critters....Continue Reading »

By Bev Saunders Gentry Chamber of Commerceposted July 29, 2015 at 7:44 a.m.

GRAVETTE -- Ozarks Community Hospital at Gravette welcomes nurse practitioner Deborah Asberry, APRN, BC, FNP to the medical staff. Asberry is collaborating with pain management specialist Dr. Heather Stelling in both the OCH Pain Clinic and at the OCH Jasper County Clinic, Webb City Campus. Deborah received her education from the University of Missouri - Columbia Sinclair School of Nursing and is currently a member of the Four States Advanced Practice Nurses Association, American Nurses Association and the Missouri Nurses Association.Continue Reading »

GENTRY -- Twenty-five years ago on the Monday following the Decatur Barbecue (Aug. 6, 1990), Marc Burden began what would turn out to be a career in the banking industry. He worked as a part-time employee of Decatur State Bank while completing his degree work at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and worked as a bank teller and anywhere else he was needed. Today he is a vice president for Grand Savings Bank and is over the Gentry branch of the bank.Continue Reading »

Changes affect gun laws, abortion, discrimination laws and more

ARKANSAS --A law barring local governments from enacting and enforcing their own anti-discrimination laws became effective last week, strengthening the hand of people seeking to eliminate gay-rights statutes. It's one of several hundred additional state laws now in force in Arkansas. Barring emergency clauses or other provisions, newly passed Arkansas laws take effect 90 days after the Arkansas Legislature adjourns. This year's regular session formally adjourned April 22.Continue Reading »

Opinion

I have an old cow; she isn't real old, but she has a big lump on her jaw. What am I gonna do with a lump-jawed old cow? She eats, raising a good big calf, and seems like she feels good. If I had a truck load of money, I would have already hauled her in to the vet to see what he would diagnose, but that truck hasn't gotten here yet!Continue Reading »

Though it has been more than 30 years since I sat in his class, I can still remember an ethics professor at the seminary explaining that the only way to curb forces bent on evil is with an equal or greater force defending what is good. Yes, that was during the Cold War and arms race era and we all understood it to have application in the political realm, but I think it also has application to the sphere of our daily lives. What my professor knew and what every Bible believer holds to be true is the evident truth hat people — yes, all people — are corrupted by sinful longings and inclinations.Continue Reading »